


day 6, where the haruspex isn't sure who to turn to

by helianthuspetal



Category: pathologic classic - Fandom, Мор. Утопия | Pathologic
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, Vignette, sappy because it is my forte, spoilers for pathologic classic day 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:41:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29415033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helianthuspetal/pseuds/helianthuspetal
Summary: Bachelor comforts Haruspex after telling him about a situation of which he is helpless to change.
Relationships: Artemiy Burakh | Artemy Burakh & Daniel Dankovskiy | Daniil Dankovsky, Artemiy Burakh | Artemy Burakh/Daniel Dankovskiy | Daniil Dankovsky
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	day 6, where the haruspex isn't sure who to turn to

“Stakh-- he was captured? By the Kains?” His whole body welled up with an unsettling feeling. His heart felt like it was going to thump out of his chest. Stakh, not Stakh. It had barely been a day since seeing him again, and already another person was being taken from him. “That bitch…” he croaked out. The false goodwill Maria showed him filled him with anger; it was clear that she knew what she did and that she was just toying with him. He clenched his jaw. 

“I tried to get Georgiy to release him but, well, no luck…” Daniil’s eyes floated back up to look at Artemy. “We can only hope that... are you alright?” A look of concern appeared on the bachelor’s face.

Artemy’s gaze was not fixed on any one particular thing. The whole world around him faded away. All he wanted to do was run and try to save Stakh, but he was frozen in place. Where could they be keeping him? What would they do to him? What could he do to stop it? He felt like he was sinking into the ground. The more he thought about it, the dizzier he felt.

“Artemy?” Daniil’s voice stood out amongst his spinning thoughts.

“...Oynon, I feel ill.” 

Daniil was beginning to understand the situation. “Look, why don’t you come with me to the Stillwater? You can rest there, and--”

“No,” he growled. “I’m going back. I need to have a chat with someone.” Artemy turned to leave without another word. Through his rage he could barely even take in his surroundings. All he could see was a clear path to the Crucible. There was a tug on his cloak, and he was ripped away from his focus when he felt his arm being jerked back. It was Dankovsky.

“Where do you think you’re going, Burakh?” Daniil shouted at him.

“It’s none of your concern, Dankovsky.” He tried pulling his arm back, but Daniil had a firm grip on him.

“I think it is,” he began. “You’re coming with me.”

“Let go.”

“We’re going!”

Artemy’s patience was thinning. “I need to go back! Now!”

“And for what?!”

“So I can--” Artemy choked out, “--I can get Stakh back!” His throat felt so dry. Every part of him just wanted to break down and cry, but his body wouldn’t let that happen. So many thoughts were swimming through his head that he barely even knew what he was thinking. He didn’t even know for sure what his plan was for when he got to the Crucible. He didn’t really want to know either.

Daniil’s expression softened, and he looked into Artemy’s eyes pleadingly. “If you go back there, then I don’t know if there’s anything I can do to get you back in anyone’s good graces.” His voice was filled with a concern that made Artemy’s heart sting. There was another tug on his arm. “Please, just come on.” 

There wasn’t much else he could do. He nodded, and Daniil nodded back. The two walked back to the Stillwater, side by side. Artemy stared blankly at the cobblestone path as they walked. He noticed that Daniil still had a hand on his arm and glanced over at him while he wasn’t looking. Daniil seemed very deep in thought about something. Artemy figured that was probably his fault. He looked back down at the path until they made it to the Stillwater.

Eva had just come around the corner when they entered. She had a look of shock on her face, as she usually did when Artemy was over, but it was less terror-filled for once. The inside corners of her eyebrows slanted upward, and she held her hands behind her. Daniil opened his mouth to speak, but Eva spoke before he could say anything.

“Artemy, dear…” she said gently. “Is there anything I can get you?”

He blinked in surprise. He wasn’t exactly sure how he should respond to that, especially coming from her. It was the first time she spoke to him without disdain in her voice. 

“I’m fine,” he said. “But… thank you anyway.” She gave him a gentle smile. 

“He’s going to be staying with me again tonight,” Daniil said. “So don’t worry if you hear him bumping around upstairs.”

_ Staying over?  _

“Now wait a second, I didn’t--” 

Before he could continue, Daniil yanked on his arm again and started dragging him upstairs. Artemy was very taken aback by the oynon’s behavior tonight. He was pushy, but not usually this pushy. He looked back down the stairs and saw Eva smiling and waving.

“Just give me a call if you need anything and I’ll be up right away~!” she called in a sing-songy voice.

He just nodded at her, then turned back once Daniil opened the door. He finally let go of Artemy’s arm at that point and was hurrying over to his bed. Artemy closed the door behind him. Even though he’d been here before, his surroundings felt so alien, and it was keeping him from moving from his spot. 

Daniil took his coat off and set it on his bed, before plopping himself down next to it. He set his briefcase beside his feet as he undid his vest and set it aside with his cravat. He kicked his shoes off and set them over by the bedside table. Artemy kept a close eye on him, but glanced away whenever he thought Daniil was going to look over. Daniil stood back up and fixed his hair.

“I’m going to work on combining this bull’s blood and the human samples.” Daniil took a short pause and cleared his throat. “You can just settle in. I’ll probably be up until the early hours of the morning trying to make this work.” Artemy said nothing and just nodded. Daniil gave him a lingering glance before turning and heading over to his desk. Artemy decided to just sit down on Dankovsky’s bed and twiddle his thumbs.

He was feeling a lot of things. At the forefront of his mind was anxiety. It was hard not to worry. He didn’t trust the Kains, least of all Maria Kaina. All he wanted was for Stakh to be okay; he wanted to see his friend at least once more. Worst of all was that he felt like part of it was his fault. So much guilt must have been weighing on Rubin’s conscience, and Artemy must have fueled it in some part by taking people’s lives for their research. He hadn’t thought much about it until now, and the realization was haunting him.

Around an hour passed by and Artemy was still sitting there, poring over his thoughts. Eventually he was able to snap out of it and lifted his head, looking around the room. It still felt like he shouldn’t be here, but he didn’t want to leave either. He leaned back a bit and saw Daniil leaning over to peer into his microscope and adjusting its lens. Occasionally, he would pick up his pen and scribble something into his notebook. It wasn’t very interesting to watch, not by a long shot, but he couldn’t look away for some reason. He didn’t want to disturb him, but...

“Oynon.” The word fell out of his mouth.

Without looking up, the bachelor responded right away. “I’ve got a name, you know.”

“Dankovsky,” he mumbled.

Daniil took a moment before standing up straight and looking back at Artemy. “Yes?” he responded.

What  _ was _ he calling him for? There wasn’t enough coherent thought going on in his head to be able to answer that question. He just stared at Daniil’s face for a few moments before fluttering his eyelids to snap himself out of a trance.

“No, nevermind,” he said softly. “It’s nothing.”

Daniil raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah. ...I think.”

That wasn’t a good enough answer for Daniil. He set down the pen he was holding and went over to sit next to Artemy on his bed. Their arms briefly brushed against each other and it was enough to make Artemy tense up. This was all a bit much for him to handle. He just wanted to sit and think about this on his own without any interference. They sat in silence for a while, Daniil looking over at him while he stared down at his feet. 

Daniil finally spoke. “If there’s… anything you want to say, you can.”

Artemy stayed quiet. It felt like every thought he had about the situation had just faded away and he was left gripped with grief again. 

“I’m just.. worried. About Stakh.” He was barely even able to get that out. Daniil nodded, clasping his hands together and resting them in his lap. 

“Did you know him well?” Daniil asked.

“We knew each other as kids. We were practically best friends. So, to hear about this is just…” he trailed off. He didn’t really want to think about it anymore. He’d thought about it enough. “I’m so tired…” He rubbed his eyes with one hand. 

Daniil glanced up at the clock and then pushed himself up off his bed. “It’s bordering on around 2am now,” he sighed. “Maybe you should just rest.” Artemy didn’t move, didn’t say anything. He looked up and watched Daniil put his gloves back on and walk over to his desk. He caught himself staring as he worked again, and shook his head to break himself away. Artemy kicked his boots off and set them near the foot of the bed and laid down on top of the covers. He shifted to his side and faced the wall. 

He was doing his best to take in his surroundings so as not to get too caught up in his own thoughts again. The room was silent aside from the sound of Danill writing, fiddling with his supplies, and occasionally mumbling something to himself. He just wished he could sleep, but every time he closed his eyes he would see all the things making him angry. He shifted around a few times, then finally sat back up. He looked over at Daniil again and just stared. 

After a few minutes, he got up and walked over to Daniil’s desk. He wasn’t noticed right away, but he definitely was once he pulled up a chair and sat down. Daniil turned to look at him and blinked.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“No,” Artemy settled his head on the desk, arms muffling his voice. 

Daniil ran a hand through his hair and glanced away. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it and just exhaled through his nostrils, eyes closed. He turned back to his microscope and looked into it again. He kept swapping the same blood samples and examining them for a few minutes before sighing and looking over at Artemy.

“Alright, what is it?” He groaned.

“How’s it going?” Artemy said, completely monotone.

“I-- well,” Daniil began clumsily, “I can’t figure out what to do without the blood agglutinating. I figured the two weren’t compatible, but…” He paused and looked down at the petri dish he was holding. He looked back over at Artemy and set the dish down. “That can wait though, what’s going on with  _ you _ ?”

“Nothing,” he looked down at the table. They both were silent for a few moments, before Artemy lifted his head to speak more clearly. “I can’t go out right now, and… you calm me down. So I just want to sit here with you.” 

Daniil’s face flushed. Artemy felt a bit embarrassed after he realized what he had just said. He set his head back down on the table and just closed his eyes. Now he wasn’t thinking about anything stressful; he just wanted to disappear. Knowing Daniil was probably still staring at him made him wish he could turn invisible. Maybe he just wouldn’t pay any more attention to it. Maybe he’d just get up and go to bed and ignore him.

Instead, he just felt a hand touch his head, and gently run through his hair. He buried his face in his arms and felt his whole body fill up with some kind of indescribable feeling. His face felt so hot that he felt like he was going to melt. After a few moments, he jerked his head up and stared straight at Daniil. Daniil’s eyes went wide and he pulled his hand back.

“Daniil,” Artemy said breathlessly. “I think you were right about the- the-- us being two parts of a whole. I know it.” 

“I-- b- wha-..” Daniil’s face got redder and redder. His eyes were darting all over the place and he just kept babbling.

“Emshen, Daniil…” he reached for the other’s hand and placed it on his cheek. “Just stay with me, please…”

“But th- the synthesis-”

“It can wait. I need you.” 

Daniil was visibly shaken by all this. He was breathing harder and faster than usual, barely able to keep his eyes on Artemy. Even his hand on Artemy’s cheek was trembling a bit. Artemy swallowed. Maybe he shouldn’t have said all that.

Before he even had a chance to regret it, Daniil held Artemy’s other cheek and pulled him in close. There was a brief moment where the only sound in the room was each other’s heartbeat. The two were so close they could feel each other’s breath hitting their faces. For the first time, he noticed how beautiful Daniil’s eyes were. They were a soft brown like oak leaves. There was a soft shine to them. Everything around them was fading, and nothing but the two of them remained when Daniil pressed his lips to Artemy’s. 

All the tension left Artemy’s body in that moment. Everything he had been feeling beforehand fell away and turned into something else. Something he didn’t know he was capable of feeling. He felt their Lines crossing and intertwining, merging into one. Daniil’s thumbs gently brushed against his face and pulled him in closer and he felt their souls melting together. He felt like they suddenly knew everything about each other. He just wanted to stay like this forever. 

They both slowly opened their eyes and looked at each other, before Daniil slowly pulled away. All they could do was just stare at each other. Artemy’s heart was still racing. He wanted to lean back in to kiss him again, but his body wouldn’t move. Daniil eventually got that same flustered look that he usually got and pushed his chair back before standing up. 

“Tomorrow…” Daniil gathered his words slowly. “It’s going to be a very busy day. We should- we should rest.”

Sleeping was the last thing he wanted to do right now, but Daniil was right. He had to go on his way to find a new ingredient for the panacea, and who knew what else tomorrow would offer? 

Daniil seemed to have read his expression. “We can, uh.. Share my bed.” 

The idea of it made him anxious, but there was no way he was going to refuse. Despite how exhausted he was, he didn’t think he was going to have an easy time falling asleep. 

Daniil didn’t wait for a response and just headed over to his bed. Artemy was still frozen in place, and stayed that way until he finally heard the covers rustling and then an uncomfortable silence. He practically had to force himself up out of his chair, and just turned around to see Daniil curled up in bed facing the wall. Hesitantly, Artemy undid the belt loops on his cloak and pulled it off, leaving his sweater on. 

He slowly made his way to the bed and paused before lifting the covers and climbing into bed. Daniil barely moved. Artemy just laid there looking at Daniil’s back before he slowly wrapped his arms around his waist. He felt Daniil jump. Even barely touching him, he could feel Daniil’s pulse quicken. Gently, he pulled Daniil closer into him and brushed his face against the other’s neck. 

He was so warm. His hair smelled so nice too; it was a comforting smell. Artemy felt that maybe, if he pressed him close enough, they would fuse together. And even if they didn’t, he still never wanted to let go. Being here with Daniil was the most at home he’d felt since he first arrived in town. Eventually, he closed his eyes.

A huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He wasn’t alone anymore.  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> this is another snippet from that planned longfic i actually scrapped... i didn't proofread it at all but i'm planning on revisiting other snippets and posting them as vignettes <3 anyways hopefully u liked this one, i think its my favorite work so far


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